WE THE PEOPLE
Demanding and accepting dowry not only unlawful but against Islamic teachings too
Hence Conscientious Citizens urge Religious Scholars and Legal Luminaries to wage war against unending social crime
By: Ahlam Masoodi
Srinagar: It was an era of darkness, an era of ignorance and an era of savagery when Arabs would bury female babies alive, forgetting such a process was hastening extinction of their race, but it was the Holy Prophet (pbuh) of Islam who banned it. It is the same land where parents of boys are not able to enter into wedlock until they offer hefty sums of money to girls. Thus the dowry wheel has taken full circle and females are held in high esteem, but cases of dowry demands and dowry deaths have taken an upward trend in Kashmir valley. Such events cast dark shadows on Islamic canvas and proves beyond any shadow of doubt that people are becoming more and more materialistic in their approach to life.
As regards Hindu law, it did not give the girl the right to property in the past and the father used to give away a part of his property to be a sort of help to the young couple to set-up a new house. The custom became an evil as the greed of the parents of the bridegrooms mounted. Thus from a grace, it became a sham of our society. The Dowry Prohibition Act, was passed in 1961, but remained ineffective and the amendment Bills of 1976 and 1985, which declared taking and giving of dowry as a punishable offence, have brought little respite to the people. The social evil needs a treatment at the social level. The Religious Scholars and Legal Luminaries must carry out intensive anti-dowry campaign. Then and then only the most heinous of social evils can be fought in our State.
But Islam is very clear about dowry system and it was Hazrat Umar (RA) who wanted to introduce some amendment to it, but a lady sitting in the congregation stood up and raised voice against his declaration. The Caliph of the time realized the gravity of the situation and sat down and then again stood up, addressed the woman that she had saved him from the wrath of Allah and his Prophet (pbuh). As per Islamic teachings, a bridegroom is expected to give heaps of gold in dower to his would be wife if he has such a financial strength Such a transformation was the result of appearance of the benefactor of humanity.
It needs to be mentioned that the Chairman of the Law Commission of India has reportedly submitted a report on dowry death to the Union Law Ministry and the question that was examined by the Law Commission in their report is whether Section 304-B of Indian Penal Code, should be amended to provide for more stringent punishment of death sentence to curb the menace of dowry death. This section provides for punishment of imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than 7 years, but may extend to imprisonment for life. Although this Section has come into force with effect from November 19, 1986 yet the incidents of dowry deaths have not shown any significant decline. This gave rise to demands for death sentence for the offence of dowry death in order to imbibe necessary deterrence in the law. The Commission examined Section 304-B IPC in light of various judicial pronouncements and critically dealt with the substantive as well as procedural aspects of the subjects. But the Commission had reportedly found that the offence of murder was not the same thing as the offence of dowry death. The Commission had favoured the increasing of the minimum sentence from 7 years to 10 years in such cases.
" Day in day out, the headlines of various newspapers cover dowry deaths in various parts of the country in general and Kashmir Valley in particular. This is a big stigma on our society, especially when we claim to be a Muslim dominated State. We should have been governed and guided by Divine laws which are totally in favour of the female gender, who otherwise are considered as a weaker section of the society. It is Holy Prophet (pbuh) who raised the status of women to such an extent by saying on various occasions that the Paradise lies beneath the feet of our mother. When he was questioned about the rights of mother, the answer was totally in her favour. This is a beautiful illustration to prove that women are held in high esteem in Islam. But what is the fate our young girls are no secret today. We need to reform ourselves and not depend on man-made laws, but follow the teachings of the Holy Prophet (pbuh)", said a group of conscientious persons of Kashmir valley.
Hence Conscientious Citizens urge Religious Scholars and Legal Luminaries to wage war against unending social crime. Launching crusade against perpetrators of such a class of people is need of the hour to save life and honour of the daughters of the Eve. Whether this is done remains to be seen!
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